I don't seem to be as impressed with many of the teams as everyone else.

B/L did good (as would be expected) as they should have no pressure in winning, with the top two teams not even being there. B/L may have landed their jumps today but tomorrow may be different. S/K performed better so hopefully she is on the mend and the free skate won't be as bad for her as the Cup of Russia. G/E need to retire, he is not good enough to carry her and with her age and skating skills-being a top pair will be difficult to reach at this stage. But they would make great pro skaters. I/M did okay but not great I hope the free will be better. M/R looked great but it's only one short program, I'm not even going to crown them as the next big thing until she at least has a season of consistency under her belt.

All in all, I really miss seeing the top two pair and can't wait until Euros.

With Gerboldt's age and skating skills? What? She is 22 years old. I didn't know that today she is too old and her skating skills are so bad. I think that a certain pair won Vancouver when they were in their thirties. Trankov is in his late twenties right now and isn't Savchenko 27 and Szolkowy 32? Some pairs in the past did not show any good skating or results at 22 but later became great pairs. Learning and experience. I don't know what will happen with this pair but you can't write them off so soon.

Woot first time B/L actually did synchronized SBS jumps 3T's!!
I love the entrance to the death spiral as well.

I agree I was just going to comment that B/L's unison has improved a LOT since I last saw them. I also very much enjoyed their lift which I found to be both extremely difficulty and very beautiful, a combination I think a lot of pairs lack. I also really appreciated their connection which I also feel has improved- though I would never compare them to G&G at this stage I felt how she would look at him sometimes was slightly reminiscent of Katia and for me provided a striking contrast to M/R, who I saw second and who looked at each other maybe twice throughout the program. I am eager to see more from them though- they definitely have all of the tools to be the next great figure skating pair if she can become more consistent as others have already commented on.

I also am missing the top two pairs, but overall I was happy to get to see these programs.

With Gerboldt's age and skating skills? What? She is 22 years old. I didn't know that today she is too old and her skating skills are so bad. I think that a certain pair won Vancouver when they were in their thirties. Trankov is in his late twenties right now and isn't Savchenko 27 and Szolkowy 32? Some pairs in the past did not show any good skating or results at 22 but later became great pairs. Learning and experience. I don't know what will happen with this pair but you can't write them off so soon.

Her skating skills are not that great. At the age of 22 if you haven't mastered your own single skating skills (apart from your partner) like edges, control and jumps, you won't-ESPECIALLY since her singles coach of was on of the best; Alexei Mishin. Switching to pairs isn't to be used as a last resort to learn how to skate, it's to be used to make the pairs skills better. Both skaters need to be strong singles skaters for it to work and Enbert isn't the best either.

Are you really comparing S/Z-a pair that had been togther for 20 years when they won their Olympic gold to G/E? G/E would have to had got together when they were 9. The other skaters you mentioned maybe older (later 20s early 30s) but they have great skating skills by themselves, not to mention great parters (sometime several great patners.) It has nothing to do with age, it has to do with learning your craft long before 22. There may have been pairs who didn't see results until after 22 but that doesn't mean they had trouble skating and all of a sudden became great skaters. Mostly it had to do with lack of partners or finding the right one.

G/E are now in 5th place (it would have been 7th if the top pairs were skating) and maybe they can still get on the podium. But even if they did medal it would have only been 4th or 5th place with V/T and K/S competing. I would rather Moskvina spend her last year and a half as a coach training someone like I/M or M/R.

Her skating skills are not that great. At the age of 22 if you haven't mastered your own single skating skills (apart from your partner) like edges, control and jumps, you won't-ESPECIALLY since her singles coach of was on of the best; Alexei Mishin. Switching to pairs isn't to be used as a last resort to learn how to skate, it's to be used to make the pairs skills better. Both skaters need to be strong singles skaters for it to work and Enbert isn't the best either.

Are you really comparing S/Z-a pair that had been togther for 20 years when they won their Olympic gold to G/E? G/E would have to had got together when they were 9. The other skaters you mentioned maybe older (later 20s early 30s) but they have great skating skills by themselves, not to mention great parters (sometime several great patners.) It has nothing to do with age, it has to do with learning your craft long before 22. There may have been pairs who didn't see results until after 22 but that doesn't mean they had trouble skating and all of a sudden became great skaters. Mostly it had to do with lack of partners or finding the right one.

G/E are now in 5th place (it would have been 7th if the top pairs were skating) and maybe they can still get on the podium. But even if they did medal it would have only been 4th or 5th place with V/T and K/S competing. I would rather Moskvina spend her last year and a half as a coach training someone like I/M or M/R.

I am not a fan of G/E and don't really care what happens to them considering that there are so many other great russian pairs. I just personally thought it is not fair to say a pair that began skating together a year ago you consider so bad (obviously she doesn't have lots of experience in paris even if she is not a good singles skater) that they should immediately retire. I am comparing them to S/Z who had a lot of time but hey, they could skate together for 20 years too. At 40, they could reach something. At 36, a Chinese pair became olympic champions. I think you can always improve your skating skills even by a little unless you are handicapped. Not by much, but you can. I don't think they will get anywhere but don't automatically think that a newly formed pair should retire because she is a bad partner. I don't like Sui/Han and think they have horrible skating skills but with time, they could get better. G/E were 4th at Europeans where there were a lot pairs- yes, the other pairs were not good but G/E seemed to have better skating skills than others who were together for many years.

You think I'm wrong about S/H being more successful than G/E? Seriously? Count their medals.

Sui may need more training but she has 7 years to get it until she's 22, Gerboldt is already 22.

Where did I say that S/H are not more successful than G/E? I agree. They are more successful but that is due to the fact that they have been skating in pairs for about 4 years versus G/E 1 year and because Gerboldt just began skating with a partner. Obviously they would be more successful right now. They have more experience! Also, they have a lot more medals because they were on the junior grand prix circuit where it is easier to medal if you can jump even a little. But G/E began their career with only getting one senior grand prix when they just began skating. Isn't it logical that they had less success right now? It doesn't help as well that there is such a tough field at nationals for G/E so they have less chances of getting to Euroes or Worlds. Nevertheless, they finished 4th at RN and Euros. Is that bad? Sounds pretty successful to me.

Again you are comparing a 16 year old bad skater with a 22 year old bad skater and S/H are already far more successful.

Originally Posted by DianaSelene

I think you are wrong. Sui has atrocious skating skills and she will need to find a new coach in order to improve those.

Originally Posted by DianaSelene

Where did I say that S/H are not more successful than G/E? I agree. They are more successful but that is due to the fact that they have been skating in pairs for about 4 years versus G/E 1 year and because Gerboldt just began skating with a partner. Obviously they would be more successful right now. They have more experience! Also, they have a lot more medals because they were on the junior grand prix circuit where it is easier to medal if you can jump even a little. But G/E began their career with only getting one senior grand prix when they just began skating. Isn't it logical that they had less success right now? It doesn't help as well that there is such a tough field at nationals for G/E so they have less chances of getting to Euroes or Worlds. Nevertheless, they finished 4th at RN and Euros. Is that bad? Sounds pretty successful to me.

Just so I understand you, you think that just because the pairs field in Russia is - what you call - "tough" G/E don't have many opportunities to go to Euros and Worlds? Yet when they went to Cup of Nice, they were 2nd and at the Cup of Russia they were 5th. So what place do you honestly think they are going to get if by some miracle they are sent to worlds? Considering they now have the 21st highest total score this season. Finishing 4th at Russian Nationals in 2011 was not such a great feat when you consider they were at their very best at everyone else behind them failed.

You are too concerned about how long teams have been paired up versus how long they have skated alone. Gerboldt has had far more time than most other skaters to master her single skating skills (16 years, just as long as Sui has been alive) and has yet to master it. Like I said before if you can't master something under the tutelage of someone like Alexei Mishin, there is not much Dmitriev/Moskvina can teach you (especially in only a year and a half left before Moskvina retires.)

So she's new to pairs (1.5 years); without the basic skills she should have been taught in her teen years, she won't learn much while having to learn/perfect pair elements. Falling on a throw is one thing but falling on a single element is quite another. If you are fortunate enough to see them live make sure you bring earplugs, their scratchy skates will make your ears bleed.